With many folks overwhelmed by the number of social media platforms available, one panel attempted to put the social networkings into perspective. Moderated by Geoff Livingston, vice president of strategic partnerships at Razoo, the panelists looked at several options beyond Facebook and Twitter and shared what worked for their organizations. All the panelists encouraged participants to find out what platforms their core audience use.

Commenting on Google+ users, Kevin Dando, director of digital marketing and communications at PBS, says the site is just a place for men to talk about being on Google+. However, you shouldn’t discount Google+ because it will help your website’s page rank. Additionally, Google+ and YouTube are becoming closer and will soon have shared search. On the other side of the spectrum, Pinterest has mostly female users and can be very effective for visual campaigns.

PBS, like other TV networks, needs to be on GetGlue, a platform that allows users to check into TV shows and other entertainment media. Dando says shows with live Twitter events have ratings one percent higher than those without. He commented Tumblr doesn’t drive a lot of traffic, but it does have a lot of engagement.

The role of chief marketer has become chief storyteller, says Debra Lavoy, director of product marketing at OpenText. You should use the story to pull the team together and that content marketing should be renamed substance marketing.

If his marketing budget was increased, Vocus’s Jason Jue says he would wish for more storytellers. (Download this PR Storytelling tip sheet from BurrellesLuce). Speaking of storytellers, when I asked the Beyond Facebook and Twitter panel if they could review Storify, they said they were all fans, especially for events. At SXSW, they said they barely left a session before someone would post all the tweets from the event to a new Storify.

Examples of brands using marketing and social media for good and helping causes were also abundant. For example, Terry Macko, senior vice president of communications and marketing for the World Wildlife Fund, discussed WWLF teaming with Coke to raise awareness about the environment. Despite backlash and confusion over the white cans, the campaign raised over two million dollars.

On a recent trip to Colombia (South America), after a long day of sightseeing, I thought I’d switch on the TV with the hope of maybe catching an American baseball game … Instead, I found an episode of MTV Network’s “Jersey Shore.” As if it wasn’t surprising enough that this show recently became a television phenomenon in the states, I found out it was also number one on pay television in Colombia amongst 18-24 year olds, as well as in Mexico.

American television companies are penetrating international markets at a rapid pace and are leveraging multiple platforms, turning their creations into global brands or “multi platform franchises.” “Transmedia storytelling,” where multiple platforms are used to create varying entry points to the story while sticking to the main narrative, is a huge contributing factor in expanding these franchises. Additional revenue, created by linking video and computer games, mobile devices, and websites to the show, in turn helps entertainment companies offset high production costs. “Once people fall in love with a brand they want to interact with it in all sorts of ways,” says Tony Cohen, the head of Fremantle Media.

Transmedia storytelling is nothing new to entertainment – movie studios have used it for years making Spider-Man and Harry Potter as recognizable worldwide as Coke or McDonald’s. Avatar, Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster hit of 2009, grossed $747 million in the states and a whopping $2.7 billion worldwide, surpassing Titanic’s overseas box office record.

McDonald’s created Internet- based games and a sweepstakes around Avatar that included a private screening of the film among other prizes. “They’re realizing that the demographic they’re targeting isn’t using traditional media as much as they used to,” said Jeff Farmer, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Boston.

As the Vice President of media and entertainment at BurrellesLuce I follow the television and movie industries very closely. A little break while traveling abroad would be nice, however, “Hollywood” seems to be everywhere these days.

What do you think? Is Hollywood and U.S. television over saturating the digital space? Are you using “transmedia” to engage and connect with your audience? What industry beyond entertainment do you think has crossed over with an effective use of transmedia public relations, marketing or advertising?